John Weaver has been named the new dean of library services and educational technology, taking over this year from former dean Mark Tucker.

Weaver, formerly director of the Burke Library at Columbia University’s Union Theological Seminary, said he will be continuing the organizational changes his predecessor set in motion. These changes will focus on helping the staff communicate and collaborate more seamlessly.

Weaver said conversation among faculty, students and librarians will be a key component to staying innovative in the years to come.

“The next generation of students has been called digital nomads because they are able to study and learn in a variety of different places and not just in book stacks,” Weaver said. “So the library is increasingly a conversation center where the library learns from students about what their needs are.”

The library is focused on creating spaces in which students not only receive information but can create information, Weaver said. The AT&T Learning Studio is an example of how the library is providing a place for collaboration and innovation.

However, the library also has a rich tradition of special collections and archives that are print based. Weaver said the library should continue to be good stewards of those materials and digitize them if possible.

“I think that the library will always be a place where people will read and always be a place where people will receive support for their reading,” Weaver said. “But the reality is that, increasingly, information resources are going online and the library should be a leader in developing tools and spaces that help students use those online resources.”

The library collaborates with many different services to bring students the resources they need to learn and create, said Karen Hendrick, public services librarian and learning commons coordinator.

Hendrick said students can go to the Library Consultation Room in the Learning Commons for help finding resources for projects, have their paper checked in the Writing Center and work on their visual storytelling in the Learning Studio.

The library’s webpage also was many digital resources including Credo, a resource which contains 500 online reference books complete with citations and a Journal Finder. Students who prefer reading books in print can have books delivered from any library in town as well as Howard Payne University’s library in Brownwood.  Hendrick said a Tex Share card is also available in the library and allows students to access books in any public or university library in Texas.

Hendrick said students no longer just using print media or electronic media, but blending both together in novel and creative ways.

“I don’t think it’s just one thing or the other, but it’s a whole new way of interacting,” Hendrick said. “All of this enables the students and faculty to collaborate and create together.”